-The Hindu Even as UPA-II and the Opposition are bracing themselves for confrontation in and outside Parliament over coal blocks allocations during 2004-09, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Coal Ministry are ready with their defence: the policy imperative was to augment production by supplementing Coal India’s efforts with private participation within the parameters of law. According to documents available with The Hindu , the arguments, which the government hopes to present...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 407
A watchdog that bites
-The Hindu One of the first principles that students of auditing are taught is that auditors are watchdogs and not bloodhounds. The Manmohan Singh government would have us believe, in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s reports first in the 2G case and now in the coal mining issue, that this basic principle is being violated by the incumbent CAG. Why should the CAG comment on the...
More »Go beyond CAG: Shout less about notional losses, do more on genuine coal sector reform
-The Times of India Expectedly, CAG's reports on coal, power and Delhi airport have raised a storm. Yes, one takeaway is the need for transparency in resource disbursal and use, be it minerals or land. But if CAG - whose job is to keep accounts - habitually hypothesises about presumptive revenue loss owing ostensibly to absence of this or that policy in the past, where will it end? Its coal audit...
More »Seven-and-half years from an opaque to a transparent process for coal allocation
-The Hindu The Comptroller and Auditor-General’s report on the allocation of coal blocks, reviews how it took seven-and-half years to move the allocation procedure for captive coal blocks from a discretionary procedure to competitive bidding that was demonstrably transparent. It turns out that the process began within six weeks of UPA-I coming to power in 2004. Ironically, the amendment to the Mines and minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act rules for auction...
More »New scheme for tribals on the anvil
-PTI In a bid to end exploitation of tribals, Government on Wednesday said it is formulating a scheme to ensure they get fair and remunerative prices for forest produce and working towards passage of a law on mines and minerals. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said that the government is considering a "new and effective" law to put an end to the "repulsive practice" of manual scavenging and to provide opportunities to...
More »
